Strictly Ballroom (1992)

"Paso Doble....heh...Paso Doble!"-Rico

There is a certain audacity in making a movie about dance.  I can think of a score of failures that attempt to capitalize on the thrill and the edginess of dance without the plot and story to back it up. (I'm looking at you:  Save the Last Dance, Step Up, Step Up 2: The Streets, Breakin, and Breakin 2: The Electric Boogaloo. Oh and I just saw this trailer for a movie about to make the same mistakes. 1  You are guilty of being schlocky films that only seek to drive spectacle and fashion for the purposes of youth marketing and pseudo rebellion.)

And then there is Strictly Ballroom. A throwback to the ballroom era. A slightly fantasized romanticized look at the audacious world of competitive ballroom in Australia. A movie that makes you, the viewer, want to dance-not just watch those that are talented.  I think that Baz Luhrmann got the mixture right in that the cuts need to be organic to the music. I think that the over the top evilness of Barry Fife set the stage for true impassioned rebellion.

On a scale of disqualification to forcibly ejected from the dance floor for blowin the roof off the place, I give Strictly Ballroom 3.7 out of 5 stars.

oh and @Boa from the link:  I wish you the best in your film.  I enjoy your work. but I have severely low expectations.          

The Big Lebowski (1998)

"Has the whole world gone crazy!?  Am the only one who gives a shit about the rules?!  Mark it ZERO!" (Walter Sobchack)
"Whoo, I'm bowling rocks tonight.  You guys are dead in the water." (Donny-Theodore Donald Kerabatsos)
"What in god's holy name are you blathering about?" (Jeffrey Lebowski-The Big Lebowski)
"I don't like your jerk-off name, I don't like your jerk-off face, I don't like your jerk-off behavior, and I don't like you....jerk-off. (Chief of the Malibu Police force- a real reactionary.)

I'm just so happy that The Big Lebowski finally made it onto my blog.  I love this movie so much. From 1999 to 2004 I probably watched it at least once every 2 months.  I can quote basically every line. "I am the Walrus."  I someday would want my children walk into the middle of a movie and ask... "Do you see what happens, Larry, when you meet a stranger in the alps!" *this is the TBS sound editing for television for the original. Hahahahaha

It is a "fictitious" life goal of mine to emulate the dude and be high in the running for laziest man in the world.

Synopsis:  With a quirky and witty script, brilliant acting, and a flair for the deranged and quixotic, The Big Lebowski is a cultural touchstone and worth seeing, even if it is totally weird and devoid of traditional sense.
On a scale of El duderino to Ralph's coffee can, I give The Big Lebowski 4.4 out of 5 stars.

Frozen (2013)

"Don't know if I'm elated or gassy, but I'm somewhere in that zone." (Anna)
"It's not WEASELtown.  It's WeasELtown." (Alan Tudyk-The Duke)

Delightful.  That's pretty much all you need to know.  I consider Frozen to possibly in the Top 15 Disney Animated Movies of all-time.  Seriously, it is borderline magical.

Kristen Bell:  I didn't know you could sing.  Wow!
Josh Gad:  I knew you were funny and could sing...but still...way to go!

 However, I want to talk about the genius that is Robert Lopez (the songwriter).  I saw Frozen a week ago and I'm still listening to the sound track on Spotify.  Let's start with that he won an Oscar for "Let it go", No doubt; applause applause.  But, that actually means that he has EGOTed in a little under a decade.  Let me repeat that. He won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony in less than 10 years.  Think about what you have been doing since 2004 and ponder that it just couldn't and hasn't been as magical as Robert Lopez's life.  Oh, little hint, if fans love your songs so much that Disney has to release sing-along versions with the words during the original theatrical release, you done good.

As a music nerd, I geek out about this kinda stuff.  In Lopez's songs I hear the break from traditional Disney songs so clear.  Instead of ABABCA song writing, Frozen is full of asymmetrical section schemes, forecasted rhymes that never land, and broadway musical level counterpoint. Let it GO!

On a scale of Beauty & the Beast to The Black Cauldron, I give Frozen 4.1 out of 5 stars.      

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

[We in the game making biz, call it "the wrinkle."] -Plutarch Heavensby

Yikes.  I know I didn't see the first movie or read any of the books, but I pretty certain that this series and movie were highly influenced by the classic movies Battle Royal and The Running Man.  In fact, Stanley Tucci is doing his very best hammed up Richard Dawson impression https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xStvfbIddM0  

Suffice it to say that I am of the opinion that if your original dystopian novel for teens and young adults is just a rehash of previous works, it just isn't very good.  Basically, what I learned is that a large chunk of the book reading teenage/adult market either is too young to understand how badly this compares to even semi-original works or just don't care to think it through.  ughhhh.  

On to silly points:  Lenny Kravitz is in this movie for some reason. I didn't really understand why.  Elizabeth Banks absolutely stole the show with her acting and those out of control costumes.  Oh and I would be remiss if I didn't say that having a viewing friend poke you and say "The Claw"(in Toy Story voice) every time a character gets picked up by a claw is extremely funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Esh4W3dfI

On a scale of a straight remake to strict exploitation, I give The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 2.9 out of 5 stars.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

"Fugazi, Fugazi. It's a wazy. It's a woozie. It's fairy dust." (Mark Hanna: Matthew McConaughey)

I get that I was supposed to be appalled by this movie.  I UNDERSTAND!  Our American culture of materialism and money is fundamentally flawed and a corruption of its original "possibly" noble intent.  OKAY!  THANK YOU MR. SCORSESE! I DID NOT KNOW THAT.

But for seriousness, I had never thought I would see a Scorsese movie that was a pure hammer. No frills just a complete barrage of THE THESIS.  A dirty disgusting drug-filled, debauch of decadence, depravity, and dicks (anatomy and people).

So as that was the goal.  Well done everyone involved.  It was well acted, wonderfully written, beautiful in a way, and funny at points. Take bows everyone.

Unfortunately, I don't think that the hammer approach was the best way to make this particular statement.  (I may be in the minority.)  I cinematically and culturally would have appreciated the Wolf of Wall Street without the sensationalism. The total truth would be much more unnerving to me than this dramatization.  It also might have been too much to handle without the hyperbole. Without all the over the top debauchery....it just wouldn't seem enough like the real wall street.  How weird is that?

Oh but the whole scene of DeCaprio on ludes, having to roll down the stairs and drive his ferrari was epic.

On a scale of wine in a bottle for 13 years to ludes in a bottle for 13 years, I give the Wolf of Wall Street 3.8 out of 5 stars.

        

The LEGO movie (2014)

"a spaceship.  A Spaceship.  A SPACESHIP!" (Retro LEGO spaceman)

If you were to make a list of the top 100 things in life that I like, LEGOs, imagination, and childhood enthusiasm would definitely be there.  Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, knights, dragons, cowboys, spaceships, Star Wars, Batman, and submarines are likely on my top 500 list.  Of all the things in the world.

Thus, The LEGO movie is a plethora of all the things I love.  It is even better that the producers, director, and writers all understood what there were doing.  In short, LEGO movie is a very very well made movie for kids. (and kids at heart.) "Everything is awesome!!"

On a different note it is not too many movies that attempt to split the planes of their reality.  The last movie to do it successfully, in my book, was Inception.  The LEGO movie's solution of making the Lego story a creative and intuitive part of the larger human drama is charming and brilliant.

On a scale of following the instructions to FREE FOR ALL, I give The LEGO movie 3.9 out of 5 stars.